The venerable Leica M6 TTL. It's been reviewed many times, but I have some of my own thoughts to share, and I do a deep dive into features and compare the features of a rangefinder to a 35mm film SLR, the Nikon FM2/FM2N.
It's a long video, so grab a cup of coffee or tea and settle in for a bit! - Mike
Come one, come all!
Join myself and THE Burts Lee of Compact Camera Club fame at the Hayward Camera show on April 30th at 10am for a film shooters meetup!
This is super informal as we'll just be hanging out and perusing the wares available at the camera show, so we figured we would invite, well, everybody to join us in the geekery.
If you're a digital shooter and want to learn about or talk film, YOU ARE WELCOME.
Here's the details:
Hayward Camera Show - Admission $3.00
Sunday, April 30th
Carpenters Local 713
1050 Mattox Rd. Hayward, CA 94541
Rent a table/more info: camerashow@gmail.com
KEH buying!
*** Please note, I'm not a show organizer--I'm just using this as an excuse for all of us to get together!
Ever since creating the PhotoMemo Film Photographer's Notebook, I've wanted to create a custom leather cover for it. I was lucky enough to partner with Cory Miller of Left Hand Leatherworks in Columbus, OH, who is not only a highly skilled craftsman, but also a photographer and film shooter just like me (and you!) to create the PhotoMemo Leather Cover, which is made entirely by hand and finally available and shipping now in very limited quantites.
I'm going to let Cory tell you about this process from start to finish. All photographs below are by Cory Miller, shot with Ilford HP5+ pushed to 1600 and developed in XTOL. Camera was a Nikon FM3a with 35mm f/2 lens.
When creating a new product the success or failure always hinges on design. I am a big believer in simple and elegant designs that are practical and easy to use while still being aesthetically pleasing. There are many variables that must be accounted for when designing leather products: the thickness of the leather itself, where the stitching will lie, the amount of volume the PhotoMemo book will take up when placed in a pocket, etc. Mike and I spent a lot of time finalizing the design and decided on a cover that accommodates two books and has a cardholder pocket to hold extra items.
After the design is completed and templates are made the next decision is the material itself. When making quality leather goods I strongly believe in using the absolute best materials available and the PhotoMemo Cover is no different. We used vegetable tanned leather from the Hermann Oak tannery. Hermann Oak is one of the few remaining producers of leather in the United States and they have been in business since 1881. Their leather is widely regarded as the finest available. The term vegetable tanned describes the process by which the cowhide is turned into leather. Less than 5% of all leather produced in the world today is vegetable tanned due to the added time and expense. Vegetable tanning generally takes at least thirty days whereas the more common chrome tanning can be completed in just one day. Vegetable tanning is much more environmentally-friendly since the tannins are supplied via natural materials like tree bark as opposed to chrome salts that can be harmful if not properly disposed of. Other benefits to vegetable tanned leather include a firmer temper that will age and patina beautifully over time as well as the ability to burnish the edges to a smooth, glassy shine that is attractive and durable (more on this later).
Now that the design is complete and the material has been selected the time has come to actually start cutting out pieces. The laying out of pieces is a balance of minimizing waste as well as avoiding flaws in the leather. Another benefit to using Hermann Oak leather is that they only select hides with very few flaws; cheaper leather often has many scars or bug bites on the surface that must be avoided. After the layout is completed the individual parts of the book cover are cut out by hand. I prefer to use the fixed-blade Stanley knives and I strop the razor blades to attain the highest level of sharpness. Hand-cutting leather requires a steady hand and lots of concentration. One slip of the knife and the piece ends up in the scrap pile.
After the parts are cut out the next stage is dyeing and preliminary conditioning. This run of PhotoMemo Covers are a nice medium brown color. I use professional water-based dye for several reasons: much like leather, the quality of the finished product depends largely upon the quality of dye used. I prefer water-based dyes over alcohol or oil-based dyes because the alcohol-based dyes tend to leave an uneven finish and oil-based dyes can bleed out of the leather and onto the user. The dyed pieces of leather are allowed to dry for at least 24 hours. The dyeing process tends to dry out the leather and the pieces become quite stiff. I apply a coat of pure neatsfoot oil to the flesh side of the leather to condition it.
The time has come for assembly! Before the pieces can be stitched permanently into place I use an adhesive called Barge Cement to hold the parts in place. This is the same product shoemakers use to attach soles to the uppers of shoes and boots. After the glue has had a few hours to cure it is time to mark where the stitching will go. I use a set of wing dividers to scribe a straight line a consistent distance from the edge. Next I use a set of diamond-shaped chisels to evenly space and punch the holes through the pieces of leather.
Hand-stitching leather is a process that requires a lot of practice to get proficient at, but there is no substitute. The type of stitch used is called the saddle stitch and it is the strongest form of stitching out there. No machine can duplicate a true saddle stitch because it utilizes two needles on each end of the thread. The needles pass through the same hole from opposite side of the leather and cross in the middle. This results in an incredibly durable stitch. Even if one stitch is cut, the rest will not pull out because the friction of the two threads twisted together in between the two pieces of leather holds them in place. The combination of diamond chisels, consistent thread tension, and thousands of practice stitches are what results in the nice diagonal stitching of the finished product.
Before the left interior pocket can be attached, the outside of the PhotoMemo Cover receives its logo. This is accomplished by heating a custom made brass stamp with a torch until it reaches a specific temperature and using a one-ton arbor press to permanently form the impression in the leather. After both pockets are stitched in place, the assembly is complete!
With the PhotoMemo Cover assembled, I now move onto the process of edge finishing. This is an area that is often skipped on commercially produced or lesser quality items because of the time involved. It is a multi-step process of trimming edges flush, beveling, sanding through many grits, and burnishing. Burnishing is the process of wetting the edges and rubbing them with a wooden slicker. The heat produced from the friction seals and hardens the edges making them attractive and durable.
The final step is finishing. I use a combination of leather conditioners that give the PhotoMemo Cover a finished appearance and provide some protection from the elements. The finish is buffed with a horsehair brush and the PhotoMemo Cover gets shipped to Mike and then to you, the customer!
While I knew that PhotoMemo would serve the needs of some people, myself included, I had no idea of the popularity they would have! When it was first released back in October of 2016, every major photography press outlet picked up on it. Here's a collection of the many reviews and features that popped up on the web over the past few months! I know there's a few more out there, and even a couple in German and Portuguese. I'll hunt those down and add those as I find them!
UPDATE: Oct 3, 2017: Found this feature on a Netherlands-based website, digifotopro.nl, in Dutch: http://www.digifotopro.nl/content/photomemo-speciaal-voor-de-analoog-fotograaf
CasualPhotophile: 10 Holiday Gifts for Photo Geeks
FSTOPPERS: Photomemo: A Simple Tool For Film Photographers to Log Their Exposures
PETAPIXEL: PhotoMemo: Simple Memo Books for Film Photographers
Popular Photography: The PhotoMemo Notebook Is Made Specifically For Film Photographers
The Phoblographer: PhotoMemo Effectively Organizes Your Film Exposures Data Logging With Style
EMULSIVE: Introducing the PhotoMemo from Mike Padua and Shoot Film Co.
35MMC: PhotoMemo Books – from Mike Padua’s ShootFilmCo
Daniel Schneider: PhotoMemo is the (film) photographer’s notebook you’re looking for
Alex Luyckx: Photo Notebook Show Down
Richard Pickup: Photomemo notebook: the photographer's friend
Utah Film Photography: PhotoMemo Photographer’s Memo Book
Kodachrome, as you may know, is the film manufactured, and since discontinued in 2009, by Kodak that required a proprietary process to develop--essentially a "secret sauce." The last lab to have the capability to develop this process, Duane's, ceased all development in 2010. There was even a documentary produced by National Geographic of Steve McCurry shooting and developing the last roll of Kodachrome.
Some labs will offer Kodachrome processing, but only in black & white. To say that losing this film and process didn't sit well with a lot of photographers would be an understatement.
Kelly-Shane Fuller of Piratelogy Studios has been experimenting...and experimenting...and experimenting with processing Kodachrome in color. And he's done it. And he's offering Kodachrome processing to YOU.
From Kelly-Shane's post on Facebook in the Film Photographer's Group:
Ok friends, as many of you may know I've been developing Kodachrome as *COLOR SLIDES* for several months now, and I've been asked by a LOT of people if I'd be willing to offer lab services.
I've put a lot of thought into it, and the answer as of today is YES.
If you've been hoarding Kodachrome in the back of your freezer, its time to pull it out.
Here's the rundown:
I take no responsibility for color shifts, lack of image, weirdness in development, or children born with the head of a dog due to my process.
These couplers are LIKELY not going to give long term image stability.
I've processed MOSTLY Kodachrome 64 in 35mm, along with a little bit of K25 in 35mm. I've just gotten the pictured roll of PKR64 in 120 to try, so 120 film will be a go as well.
I CANNOT currently do motion picture lengths, though I'm working out a way to make that happens. That means no Super8, Double8, or 16mm films.
Development will be $25 a roll + shipping. This process is expensive, and I'm the only one doing it right now. Hopefully with enough interest I can order larger chemistry amounts and drive this cost down.
Kelly-Shane shared some examples with me showing the evolution of his process, from the beginnings where he was even able to get (wildly shifted) color in the first place, through the refinement, and onto what he's able to do today. Check out these photos:
"Colors are all sorts of off, but it proved I could GET color." - Kelly-Shane Fuller
"One where I was really getting decent color. Saturations were low, but it was basically 'correct'." - Kelly-Shane Fuller
And finally, from one of the last 3 rolls he's done.
Now, I've yet to try his service myself, so this is by no means an endorsement--but I AM excited that someone has begun to crack the code of this secretive and proprietary process that has been all but lost--and you better believe I'm going straight to my film fridge after I post this to shoot what I have.
Email: photo@piratelogy.com
